Beneath His Blindfold

Chapter 7

A boy with bright yellow hair walks wearily into the room, wiping sleep from his eyes.

"Who's that?" He questions his blue eyed friend, noticing the dirty stranger on their sofa. Light begins to spell the boys' name, however he speaks up before Light can finish.

"Elan!" He says fearfully, and Light freezes. "My- my name is Elan."

"Well, hi there, Elan," the boy replies, too tired to notice the difference between what his friend was spelling and the stranger's name. "I'm Ryan. Sorry, but I'm not much of a night owl, can we talk more in the morning?"

"Uh, yeah sure," Elan replies, trying to shield Ryan's view of his blindfolded eyes.

"Cool. I'll see you two in the morning then," Light waves goodbye as Ryan departs for his bedroom, before turning to Elan and tapping his shoulder. Cautiously, he removes the blindfold, looking up at his new friend.

'Your name isn't Elan, it's Sabre.' Light mouths and signs, and the boy looks towards the doorway.

"I can't let him know who I am, Light," he says quietly.

'He's trustworthy.'

"To you maybe," Light looks down sorrowfully at the boy. "I barely know him, and I don't want to take any risks. Please, can you keep this one thing from him, for me?"

Light stares at the boy for a while, contemplating the decision.

'Okay, Elan.' He eventually mouths.

~~~~~

I breath a sigh of relief, and tell Light, "thank you," before he looks at my clothes. They've been wiped, but I still smell awful.

'I will find you a towel,' Light mouths, given up now on trying to sign. 'And fresh night clothes for you, so you can shower,'

"Thank you," I say as he leaves, and I take another bite from the sandwich I nearly forgot about.

Light is... a strange boy. He's so calm about my freakiness, even said there's no reason to be afraid. But... even Ivy was afraid - though she'd never admit it - when I lost my marbles with Andrew. Why is this boy different?

What has he been through?

As I finish my thoughts and sandwich, Light enters the room. He takes the plate and places it on the small table, before helping me to my feet, avoiding the mess I made.

"Sorry about that," I say, but he shakes his head as if to say 'don't worry.' He leads me down a hallway, and I'm on guard to cover my eyes incase Ryan comes out.

Light leads me into a bright, kinda small bathroom, with a glass shower, a towel rack, a basin and a clothes pile being the only things. I look across at him and he says,

'Shower's pretty easy to use, and there's clothes there for you for tonight,' I look to the towel rack, seeing a single towel and clothes hanging from it. 'Take as long as you need, but just remember you still need sleep.'

"Thank you, Light," I say, and he leaves me, shutting the door behind him. I lock it, before getting out of my vomit and trash covered clothes. I place the blindfold on the basin, and turn the water on.

It takes a little bit, but I eventually get the water to the right temperature. I can't help but close my eyes as my body gets covered in water, rinsing off the disgustingness of the day. I lean my head back, and allow the droplets to run over my face and through my hair.

Man, I take showers for granted. Realistically, it hasn't been much extra time since my last one, but after everything I've been through today, I'm glad I can finally relax.

That is until the events from today start to list in my mind, from when I woke up to now.

It started off okay. Mom being her humorous sleepy self, and getting to see Ivy outside of school. But then the video, the news, a neighbour being shot, having to run, leaving my only friend, hall neighbour and mother, hearing gunshots and mom screaming, running into an area I'm unfamiliar with, tripping into trash and vomiting on myself.

All in the span of one day...

I open my eyes and grab a bottle of soap, putting a small amount onto a shower sponge and properly cleaning myself.

Maybe I can just start a new life? Forget I was ever Sabre and just go by Elan...

No... Elan was dad's name. I can't use it forever.

Ryan will find out. I should tell him the truth before it gets too late, and he finds out in a negative situation. Won't that be cliche.

As I rinse the suds off myself, I let out a large yawn. Yeah, after everything today, I'm not surprised I'm tired. And it is late, too. I should finish up and get to bed; hopefully Light is still awake so he can show me where to sleep.

The water goes off, and the towel goes around my body. I stand in front of the basin, looking into my reflection. These eyes of mine. Just... I can't believe Light not seeing the fearfulness of them.

Bravery. That word rings in my mind. Light's brave. I'm scared just looking at my own eyes. Clearly, I'm not brave. But... should I be? Or should I just be cautious and afraid?

I turn away from the mirror, unwrapping the towel and drying myself. Focus on this, not those troubling thoughts. We can think about all that tomorrow.

Towel goes on the rack, and I pull on the pyjamas Light left me. The fabric is soft, reassuring in a way. I can't help but stand and look down at them; it's like they're telling me 'it's going to be okay'. Oh great, sleepiness is making me poetic.

I grab my blindfold from the basin, with not even a glance at my reflection, before exiting and turning off the light. I look down the hall, to see the glow of the lounge light still on.

I make my way down the hall, to see Light on his hands and knees with a bucket of water, in front of the couch. He must hear me, because he turns around and smiles.

"Let me help you," I say, realising what he's doing and walking towards him. He stands, and puts a hand on my chest.

'No, Sab- Elan.' He mouths, catching himself. 'I'll deal with this. You go to bed. The third door on the left is our spare room.' I look at him, before down at the floor behind him. That's my mess, I should be cleaning it, not him. 'Go, Elan. Don't worry about this.'

"Okay..." I say, knowing that he's not going to budge. "Good night then, Light." He nods and smiles, and I leave him.

I walk down the hall, opening the third door on my left, to reveal a small room, with a single bed in the corner. I flick the light on, before shutting and locking the door behind me.

For a while, I just stand with my back against the door. However, another yawn tells me to turn on the bedside lamp, turn off the room light, and climb into the bed.

The pillow and sheets are as soft as the pyjamas, and the blanket makes it feel like I'm being given a warm hug. I turn off the lamp and put my blindfold on the nightstand, and bring my arm back under the covers,

Just as tears, that I didn't know I needed to let go, begin to fall.